Clay mask or Clay soap

[NMAriel]

I want to make something for my face. Does clay soap used daily really help with blemish prone faces, or should I make a weekly clay mask?

I found a clay mask recipe online, but I don't have clay soap recipe. Should I just use my normal gm soap as a base, and add clay and tea tree eo to it? Also, which clay should I use and how much. I read that green clay, bentonit, kaolin, and fuller earth are good for oily/acne skin. Also, how much tea tree oil eo should I use? Any suggestions would be great.

 

[Jaaret]

Clays

I regularly add clays to my soaps because I like the color that they impart and I think they add therapuetic qualities. Kaolin is a white clay that is very mild and gives soap a smooth, slippery feel. They also make the soap a nice, ivory white color. Kaolin does not draw oil from the skin the way most other clays do.

I've used dead sea clay, red morrocan clay, and french green clay. All these clays have more drawing properties than Kaolin. I use them somewhat conservatively, adding about a tablespoon per 1 1/2 pounds of soap.

Tea trea and lavender are the only essential oils that can be used directly on skin. All other EO's need to be diluted in a carrier oil before being applied to the skin. In general, the essential oils added to soaps or massage oils should not exceed 2.5% of the total weight of the oils.

Tea tree blends well with rosemary and juniper and both these EO's are helpful in combatting acne. I know from experience - I have acne prone skin. I stopped breaking out when I starting making and using my soaps five years ago.

 

[NMAriel]

Thank you. I'm waiting on a new mold, and then I'm going to make some face soap. Thanks for the info.

 

[Jaaret]

Pictures of my soaps

Here are pictures of samples from the last four batches of soap I've made. They all contain clay. They are (left to right):
- Geranium & Tea Trea soap with ground almonds and French green clay
- Ginger & Cinnamon soap with ground oatmeal and dead sea clay
- Cedar & Lemongrass soap with Morrocan red clay
- Peppermint & Spearmint soap with white Kaolin clay

I can't explain why the soap with the ground almonds and French green clay came out so mottled. I use a KitchenAid mixer to stir my batches. I think the dark spots are tiny bits of ground almond that turned dark in reaction to the lye.

 

[Tabitha]

Those all sound like awesome combos!

 

[Deda]

Amazingly Beautiful! They look so creamy. I so do love clay in soap.

 

[topcat]

Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge here Jaaret.....now I will have to make clay soap too :wink: :roll:

Your soaps look beautiful and so smooth.....

Tanya

 

[ChrissyB]

They look really creamy!!
I have a teenage son who is going through the hormonal acne. I have made soap for his with tea tree in it, but have ordered some bentonite clay that should come this week, that's my next task! Thanks for the inspiration!!

 

[NMAriel]

Wow, they're so wonderful. I'm totally inspired.

I found a recipe online call Acne treatment soap. Please tell what you think.

Olive Oil 525g
Palm Kernel Oil 525g
Rice Bran Oil 150g (don't have, will have to buy)
Grapeseed 300g (don't have, will have to buy)
Sodium Hydroxide 210g
Water 225g (but I'd like to substitute Goat Milk)
French Green Clay 3 tablespoons
Lavandin EO 25g
Niaouli EO 25g (I read is in the Tea Tree family, and I have Tea
Tree EO, so I'm going to use that)

 

[heartsong]

soap

hi jaaret!

i've read (and use) whitch hazel is a great "toner" to use after washing your face. it's cheap, easy to find and effective. i add tea tree and rosemary to mine.

could this be an effective ingredient in soap?

 

[Deda]

Witch Hazel is lovely in soap, but don't use the drug store kind, that contains alcohol. You will need a Witch Hazel Hydrosol, like the one that FNWLsells.

Just replace a portion of your water with the hydrosol. When you work on your recipe keep careful watch on the lauric and myristic acid levels to make sure your soap won't be too drying.

 

[heartsong]

s

10-4, thanks for the info! fnwl has very good quality stuff-i use alot of their extracts-especially their calendula.

 

[NMAriel]

Thank you Jaaret and Deda. You guys are a wealth of information, and very generous in helping us less experienced.

Deda, when you say to watch the lauric and myristic acid levels so your soap isn't to harsh, how do you do that?

 

[Deda]

Deda, when you say to watch the lauric and myristic acid levels so your soap isn't to harsh, how do you do that?

Lauric and myristic acid are fatty acids, their levels directly relate to the cleaning properties in your recipe, soap with levels that are too high will strip the oils from your skin, when you add an astringent like Witch Hazel it can exacerbate the harshness.

I like Soapmaker, but Soapcalc is a great tool to see the levels of the different fatty acids.

 

[NMAriel]

Thanks. I've played with Soapcalc but I didn't see where/how the additive was calculated. Sorry for a stupid question. Can you tell me how to do it right so my additives are included in the calculaated.

 

[Deda]

A recipe calculator won't measure anything for Witch Hazel, it's simply an additive. When you are figuring your recipe just make sure your cleaning level is low enough and your conditioning level high enough to account for the astringency of the witch hazel.

I find about 20% of my water replaced with a quality hydrosol is a good starting place. The soap doesn't retain any scent at that level, but does keep (I hope) the properties of whatever type of hydrosol I've used.

 

[NMAriel]

Thanks Deda. I ran the Acne soap on the post on pg 1 through the Soapcalc and here's the results.

Hardness 35
cleaning 21
conditioning 60
Bubbly 21
Creamy 13
Iodine 73
INS 122


Is this good? This is the recipe I was going to try.

 

[Jaaret]

I found a recipe online call Acne treatment soap. Please tell what you think.

Olive Oil 525g
Palm Kernel Oil 525g
Rice Bran Oil 150g (don't have, will have to buy)
Grapeseed 300g (don't have, will have to buy)
Sodium Hydroxide 210g
Water 225g (but I'd like to substitute Goat Milk)
French Green Clay 3 tablespoons
Lavandin EO 25g
Niaouli EO 25g (I read is in the Tea Tree family, and I have Tea
Tree EO, so I'm going to use that)

Looks like a good recipe to me. The French Green Clay combined with the Lavendin and Tea Trea should really help treat the acne.

I've never heard of rice bran oil. I'll have to check it out.

Jaaret

 

[ChrissyB]

Rice bran oil is great!'
I use it all the time for soaping (what else do people use oil for? :wink: )
Oh and yes it's good for cooking too, it has a high smoke point and no cholesterol, so you can use it for everything from stir fry to salad dressing.

 

[Deda]

Rice bran oil is great!'

My soap is around 30% RBO. Can't live without it.